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MATCH REPORT: Natwest T20 Blast - Somerset v Middlesex

Henry Welch meets Nick Compton

HENRY Welch, 15, of Wiveliscombe, was named as a winner in the Match Day Reporter competition run by Somerset County Cricket Club and the County Gazette. He scooped a media pass and tickets for three friends to Friday’s Natwest T20 Blast match against Middlesex. Here’s his match report.

THE County Ground was packed to the rafters on a glorious summer’s evening as fans flocked to witness Somerset’s final group stage Natwest T20 Blast match against Middlesex on Friday. Tension was high as the Cidermen needed to win and hope that Glamorgan came unstuck against Gloucestershire to qualify for the quarter finals.

With Somerset winning the toss and electing to bat, openers Marcus Trescothick and Nick Compton got the home side off to a strong start; 54 runs coming off the power play overs without a wicket lost. There was a stroke of luck for Compton however as he was dropped in the 1st over by Malan and again in the 9th by Higgins. Fortunately he soon regained his composure, reaching his 50 in just 33 balls including 6 fours and 2 sixes.

Compton eventually fell in the 13th over for 58, with the partnership on 105 and Trescothick (46) followed suit two balls later, victim to a stumping off the impressive Ravi Patel. Subsequent contributions from Colin Ingram (21) and Peter Trego (35) took Somerset to a competitive total of 183-3 from their 20 overs.

Middlesex started strongly with Malan smashing 34 of their 50 runs in the power play overs. Then came the Somerset response. Malan fell just an over later as he was caught by stand-in keeper Trescothick and the game started to favour the home side. In the 10th over, Dirk Nannes dismissed England star Eoin Morgan and Ryan Higgins in successive balls to leave the Panthers reeling on 65-4. Middlesex never really recovered from this as they limped to 162 for 7, 22 runs short.

Unfortunately the elation of this victory was short lived as news filtered through that Glamorgan had crushed Gloucestershire by 8 wickets, sending Somerset out of the competition. The disappointing campaign was honestly summed up by Man of the Match Nick Compton, who in the post-match press conference admitted that the team over the season had not played well enough and therefore did not deserve to qualify.

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